Erie magistrate Carney facing discipline after court ruling

This is a March, 2011 file photo of District Justice Thomas Carney. He was photographed at the Erie Maennerchor Club on March 21. JANET B. KUMMERER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

The state Supreme Court today reversed a 2011 decision that acquitted Erie 3rd Ward District Judge Tom Carney of ethics charges that he brought his office into disrepute by waving a loaded handgun during a dispute with another motorist on Interstate 79 in January 2009.

The decision sends the case back to the state Court of Judicial Discipline, which had cleared Carney.

The Supreme Court ordered the Court of Judicial Discipline to hold a hearing "to determine the appropriate sanction" for Carney's actions in the gun-waving incident, according to the 31-page unanimous decision, which Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote.

The discipline could include a private reprimand, a suspension or removal from Carney's $86,639-a-year district judge post.

Carney, 59, pleaded guilty in November 2009 to two summary counts of disorderly conduct and paid a $541 fine over the gun incident, which occurred on Interstate 79 in Mercer County the night of Jan. 11, 2009,

Carney has remained a magistrate during the criminal case and the ethics case. He was elected to a second consecutive six-year term in November 2011, when he ran unopposed.

Carney declined to comment on the Supreme Court decision and referred questions to his lawyer, David Ridge, who said he is reviewing the decision.